Unwanted

I'm a big college sports fan.  Specifically, a big K-State fan, but I enjoy NCAA sports in general.  By "general", I mean football and men's basketball.  I like to hear about K-State success in volleyball, track and golf, but I certainly don't follow those sports.  It's probably a good thing we don't live in Manhattan, or I might take an interest in equestrian.

I work with all men, and take pride in participating in sports discussions just like a good ol' boy.  We typically have these conversations over cigars while getting our shoes shined. (I kid.)  During football and basketball seasons, I regularly visit ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Fox Sports' web-sites, and enjoy seeing raised eyebrows when I offer random statistics in conversation.  Many of my close girlfriends share the same interest, so it seems completely normal to me. 

From April to August, the sports world is pretty much dead to me.  Royals baseball?  Don't care (but who does?).  Except this week.  This week, there are crazy rumors threatening to come true, like talk of Missouri and Nebraska going to the Big 10, and the Texas and Oklahoma schools and CU going to the Pac-10.  There is, however, no talk of K-State being lured to greener pastures.  It appears that none of the cool kids want us to play with them, which would sting a little more if someone wanted KU, but it seems that they have kooties, too.  No one wants Iowa State either, but they have been the smelly kid in the Big 12 North for quite some time now, so no surprise there.

The entire saga is a reminder that college football is a business, and "conference expansion" is really just code for "mergers and acquisitions" (which, for those of you that don't know exactly what it is that I do...that's what I do).  However, when large companies merge, they must seek approval from the Department of Justice so conglomerates don't gain too much power in one industry.  The same does not hold true for college football.  The NCAA apparently does not serve in the same capacity as the DOJ, so there is nothing stopping 3 super-conferences from controlling college football, and relegating the rest of us to being outcasts.  All is well in this scenario if you're a large university with a large TV audience.  All is not well if you're a large university in Kansas, and there is another large university an hour away.

Colorado has already announced their departure from the Big 12, to which I say "Good riddance."  You can have those whiney fans, Pac-10.  All other details are purely speculation at this point, but more will be known tomorrow.  Until then...EMAW!